The Hieratic Dragons—Protectors of the City of the Sun
by Queen Glory of RainWings
Summary: Thousands of years ago, the ancient city of Heliopolis was guarded by nine powerful dragons. Together, these dragons—Nuit, Gebeb, Eset, Nebthet, Tefnuit, Su, Asar, Sutekh, and Atum—defended civilization against threats even they never would have imagined. They also may learn that the greatest threat to their way of life will come from within. Changed to Rated M for future chapters.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Thousands of years ago, the ancient city of Heliopolis was protected by nine powerful dragons—Eset, Nebthet, Asar, Sutekh, Su, Nuit, Gebeb, Tefnuit, and Atum. Together, these nine dragons were known as the Hieratic, or Hieroglyphic, Dragons, and they protected civilization from threats no one could have imagined, not even themselves. The Hieratic Dragons had not only been consorts of one another, but they also brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and they had genders! Wielding the power of their mysterious "Hieratic Seals", none had been able to challenge the power of the Hieratic Dragons. Using these seals and their untapped powers, they saved the entire world from threats on an apocalyptic level, and in the process, learned that sometimes the greatest dangers come from within…

Their story began in the earliest days of Egypt, during the old kingdom in the year 2345 BCE. The then nameless region where the dragon who would come to be known as Atum came from had been a chaotic one when it came for his time to flee the land he had been born and raised in. A few corrupt dragons had caused all dragons to turn on each other, and mankind. Atum and his spouse, a beautiful dragon called "Agathangelos", whose name meant "good angel" in their language, had been given no choice but to flee their homeland with their two eggs in tow, safely nestled away in a basket they had snatched from an abandoned village. It was either leave everything they had ever known behind or die just as everyone knew they had.

The village where they found the basket, stuffed with a soft white material, had already been decimated and burned out by the corrupted dragons who started it all in the name of the rumored "Chthonian Emperor Dragon". The Chthonian Emperor Dragon was said to have, as its name containing the term "Chthonian" suggested, risen from the underworld itself to wreak havoc on the world. Word of that dragon's "accomplishments" had turned their homeland and any region neighboring it to into hell. It was no longer even fit to live in, not even for the dragons who had destroyed everything in their path.

The pair of dragons, whose names were Alexandros ("savior of mankind") and Agathangelos, knew they needed to find a new place to live that was as far away from their homeland as possible, so those corrupt dragons could ever hope to track them down. But their situation was becoming a more desperate one with each passing minute they remained in the air. Alexandros had remarkably not been injured in all the chaos, but Agathangelos had been severely. The deep gash across the right side of the she-dragon's breast was testament to not only that, but also served as a reminder of those other dragon's ruthlessness. Alexandros and Agathangelos' families had been rounded up by those evil dragons and their followers because they had all refused to join their "case". They were literally ripped apart before Alexandros and Agathangelos' eyes, their killers thinking that would change their minds. If not, they would have killed them too. But still, they had refused, wanting no part of anything so heinous.

It was a miracle that Alexandros and Agathangelos had escaped with their lives, but Agathangelos did not know how much longer her wings would be able to support her body. Agathangelos had lost a lot of blood before her wound clotted off, and as a result, become weak quickly in the past few days since they fled their homeland. The dragon's muscles, especially those within her breast, felt as though they were on fire. Agathangelos had never felt this kind of pain before, and she did not understand why it felt as if her hide was on fire underneath her scales.

Agathangelos believed that, any time now, her wings were going to fail her, and she would plummet right out of the sky to her death. She feared there would be no avoiding that terrible fate, especially if they did not find a spot to land soon.

"Do you see any place we can rest yet?" Agathangelos asked her spouse. The agony in her voice could not be missed, except by someone who was deaf. Alexandros could not bear to see (and hear) his spouse in so much pain, and not being able to do anything to help her, on top of that. "I'm afraid…I cannot keep going like this for much longer."

Alexandros was afraid to answer his spouse' question, truthfully or not. She would not like the answer either way, he believed. But at the same time, he felt that not answering her might be worse than at least being honest. He did not want to make Agathangelos feel as though he was ignoring her, especially not in her time of great need. He did not know, either, how her wings had carried her all this way from their homeland with that gash in her breast, which went down to the bone underneath it.

"I do not see anything," Alexandros finally answered, after receiving a harsh glare from Agathangelos. Just as he had feared, Agathangelos had begun to feel as though her spouse was ignoring her. This was in part due to the pain caused by her injury greatly clouding her judgment. "There is nothing as far as my eyes can see. Just a vast and endless expanse of desert…"

"Then why do we not stop here?" the she-dragon groaned. "My wings will not carry me much further. I…am so weak, and with each flap of my wings, I get weaker." She paused to look down at the basket that she was carrying. They had been taking turns carrying it so neither of the pair would get too tired, but now, even taking turns carrying it had not been doing any good for Agathangelos. She was still losing her strength, even when Alexandros had taken his turn to carry the basket.

"Take it," Agathangelos whispered hoarsely. "The basket. I cannot carry it and support my own weight both, any longer." She did not want to lose their only hope for continuing their families, which except for them, had already been entirely wiped out in a single day. "My body is so worn out."

Alexandros obliged, and it was all Agathangelos could do to pass the basket from her feet to Atum's, while continuing to flap her wings as she did so. The grueling task seemed to sap what little energy had remained in Agathangelos' body. The she-dragon's wings began to shake almost unnaturally for a dragon in flight, and her flight speed decreased just as noticeably. She and Alexandros, both, were alarmed by this.

"Leave me," Agathangelos whispered. "I won't last much longer, and I have only been slowing you down since we left our homeland, anyway. You know as well as I do that…" She paused to catch what little breath she could manage to. "…you would be better off without a crippled dragon like me."

"I will never leave you," Alexandros said. "We just need to find a spot to rest. My heart tells me we are close."

"That may be, but you will not accomplish that goal better if I am with you…" Agathangelos started gasping uncontrollably. "…to slow you down."

Now it was Alexandros who gasped. "Agathangelos?" he said.

Agathangelos' wings stopped working all together, against her own will. The she-dragon began plummeting toward the sandy desert floor below, noticing that they were all large rocks they had not seen from higher up scattered all around in the sand. Maybe she would hit one of them just right, and be put out of her misery. Agathangelos did not want to leave Alexandros and their two eggs all alone in this unfamiliar location, but she did not want to suffer any longer, and knew she would only slow them down anyway.

Without speaking or even thinking, Alexandros dived through the air after his spouse, thinking maybe if he got a hold of her with his wings, she would be saved. But, much to Alexandros' dismay, his spouse seemed to be falling too quickly for him to get to her. Alexandros could not fly downward too quickly. He also had to consider their eggs safety within the basket he was carrying, since there was no place for him to set the basket down.

"Agathangelos!" Alexandros cried out.

Agathangelos, with a weak look on her face, gave one last glance up at her spouse, as if she wanted to tell him how sorry she was for leaving him alone out here with their eggs. Instead, she whispered, "I love you."

Alexandros heard his spouse's last words, and his eyes began to tear him. He ceased his downward flight, and only watched in dismay as Agathangelos disappeared into the darkness of the night below to never reappear. He heard the thud of her body landing on a rock, then everything was silent. There were no longer any painful groans, and Alexandros no longer heard Agathangelos' voice either. He knew she was gone, as much as he hated to accept such a reality, and nothing could bring his love back.

All he could do now was finish what they had come all this way for, and find somewhere safe for their eggs to hatch, where those murderous dragons who had now taken everything but his eggs from him. They were all he had left, and his only purpose for wanting to live. If Alexandros lost his and Agathangelos' eggs, he thought there would be no reason to go on live, and let himself fall just as Agathangelos had. As the male dragon turned to fly off, Alexandros knew he would always miss Agathangelos. He would never forget her. His mind would be filled with memories of all the better times they had together before other dragons they knew were overtaken with evil unlike any they had never seen before. Alexandros wished he could go back to that time, and do something to stop it from ever happening.

A part of Alexandros' heart and soul was missing now, he thought as he flew what now seemed to be hopelessly west. He still saw nothing in this desert that renewed his hope that the two eggs he was now solely responsible for would be able to hatch in safety at. He could not just land on the ground. Alexandros knew nothing about this region, but he knew enough that a lone dragon with two eggs would be a target of all sorts of predators wanting to make them (the eggs, that is) a meal. They probably would not stop even if it got in their way, and would probably regret going after all that was left of his family.

Nonetheless, Alexandros refused to take the risk even if he could always fight most threats off if he really needed to. Dragons were, despite common belief that mankind had about them, actually a relatively peaceful kind, and did not like to take part in war unless it was absolutely necessary. If then, even. The only time a dragon who was pure of heart and soul wanted to fight was to defend themselves, and especially their families. Alexandros and Agathangelos were dragons who believed that their kind should only fight to defend themselves, and not for reasons such as war. What happened to Agathangelos and their families only reinforced Alexandros' belief that he would never fight for what he believed were the wrong reasons. War had cost them their entire families, and now it cost Agathangelos her life. All that had happened because of a single evil dragon made Alexandros feel hatred in his heart toward all of those dragons who had ruined his life by taking everything he had ever known from in such a short time. Only days ago, his and Agathangelos' lives had been perfect, but now everything was ruined.

Alexandros would not only never be able to return to his homeland (at least not any time soon), but now he had lost the only dragon in his life he had ever loved. He did not see how things could get any worse for him at this point. As far as Alexandros was concerned, he had already hit rock bottom, so things had to start looking up for him, should it not?

The dragon sighed sadly. He just did not know what to do anymore, after everything he had went through. In Alexandros' eyes, the future seemed bleak, and equally hopeless. But…

Alexandros thought he saw something in the distance, glowing slightly, but he was not sure if it was really there, or if it was just his eyes playing a trick on him. He had not slept well in the days since leaving his homeland with Agathangelos, so it had to be a trick his eyes were playing on him. After a while, though, the dragon began to doubt that, because the further west he flew, the brighter whatever it was he saw glowed. Now, Alexandros saw a golden glow that continued to brighten. He now knew it was not a trick his eyes were playing on him, or some sort of illusion. Whatever this was, it was real! He could not believe what he was seeing, even if it was, in fact, a real thing before him.

The dragon blinked his eyes once, and just as quickly as the monument before him had been glowing gold, it was now gray as the stone it must have been constructed from. Alexandros wondered to himself if it had not actually glowed golden as he had first thought, but some sort of vision beckoning him to this monument. Upon flying over it, Alexandros realized that it was not a monument, but a city! That meant humans, he thought. Maybe. He did not see any signs of life here, so Alexandros flew down to the city for a closer look.

Alexandros found his way into the seemingly abandoned city, flying between several pillars with writing that he did not recognize all over it and the walls of this chamber. Everywhere he looked, there were symbols in the shapes of animals, people, and even strange objects. Although he had not stopped grieving Agathangelos, the more Alexandros began to examine these symbols out of curiosity and nothing else, the more he began to feel as though he had seen these symbols before, and was able to read them. Of course, this confused the dragon because he had never been to this part of the world before, and he had most definitely never seen these symbols before, so how was he able to understand some of what this said?

"H-H…" Alexandros tried speaking some of the writing from this wall out loud. What he saw was a mash-up of what appeared to be symbols that represented ropes, plants, lions, and…two unrecognizable symbols written in a pattern. He struggled to read it at first, but eventually the words found their way out of the dragon's mouth. "Heliopolis," he whispered. "City of the Sun."

Now, the dragon _was_ alarmed. "Heliopolis" was almost a word from where he came from—Alexandros had seen it written as "Ἡλιούπολις" by humans using some sort of material they crafted. He had also seen it written as "عين شمس " by travelers passing through the village near the cave where he had once lived with Agathangelos. But this writing, only symbols, was something that he had never seen before in his life, so he once again wondered how he had been able to read "Heliopolis—City of the Sun" from all the writing on this stone wall.

Alexandros looked to the right at some other symbols not far away from those he had just read aloud. From left to right, he saw symbols representing each of these: a vulture, half a circle, a quail, and an owl scrunched together on a rectangle with rounded corners at each end. The dragon assumed it was a name, as he tried sounding this word out, too. He still did not understand how he could understand what these symbols said, though.

"A-A-A," he tried sounding this out for the third time before succeeding. "Atum," he finally whispered. "Atum," the dragon repeated. After saying it two more times following this, it began to sound like a name to Alexandros, and that thought gave him an idea. He wanted to forget everything else from where he came—there were no good memories to have of his homeland. And what better way, the dragon thought to himself, to start forgetting all of the terrible things he had gone through to than forget his old name by giving himself a new one?

As far as Alexandros was concerned, "Atum" would be the perfect name for him. Other than liking the sound of it and feeling an odd connection to that word—it seemed oddly familiar, the more he spoke it—if he was going to call this region home, he may as well have a name that anyone who lived here he may or may not ever meet can pronounce. Alexandros, now Atum, cast a sad glance over to the straw basket containing the two unhatched eggs, all that he had left as a reminder of Agathangelos. Through them, he would never truly forget all they had been through ( _only_ the good times, he wanted to forget the bad times as much as he wanted to forget their reasoning for flying all this way), but now was still a time for him to mourn.

Some other grouped symbols—first, left to right: a half circle, a plant, slug, water, bird, plant, and a half second; second, from left to right: an unrecognizable symbol and a bird—stuck out to Atum. Having gotten accustomed to reading these symbols, although he still wondered how this was possible as he did so, he read these with relative ease in comparison to the first two attempts he had made.

"Tefnuit," he said, then paused for a minute to wonder if he was really pronouncing these words correctly, and once again, ponder how he could decipher a language that he had not seen before as far as he knew. "And…Su."

Atum knew why these two names, if they even were names, stuck out to him. Once the two eggs that were warm and safe in the basket hatched, that was what he would name his children, assuming one of them was a daughter and the other a son. To Atum, "Tefnuit" sounded like a name meant for daughters, and "Su" a name meant for sons. If the eggs did not hatch into one son and one daughter, then Atum would scan the wall for other names he would find fitting to name the second hatchling.

Atum thought about Agathangelos again, and the brief emotional boost he had gotten from thinking about the two eggs hatching was gone. The dragon felt sadness in his heart again, as he went over to where he had sat the basket many minutes ago to examine the writing all over this room's walls. Atum lay down by the basket, then rested his head on the ground.

Little did the lonely dragon now, he had just opened up a new chapter of his life that would change his views of everything about the world in the future. It would start with an upcoming miracle after all the tragedies he had recently been forced to death with.

* * *

 **Author's note:** So this is my second attempt at starting a fanfiction about the Hieratic Dragons (look them up on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki, for those who have somehow not heard of the series of cards) since I've always been interested in Ancient Egypt since I was a kid. Of course, I had to do a lot of research about Ancient Egypt and even Ancient Greece (when I first began planning this story some time ago) to an extent so any history that might be used as plot elements in this story will be historically accurate as possible, even though this story will be about dragons, in vein of the _Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ novels and the movie they inspired.

I've been meaning to write this for a while now, so it might be my main focus as far as what stories I work on goes. I won't be updating anything else (for those who had been reading my other current fanfic) only for that reason. This story's long overdue because I have written the prologue three times now because I was not satisfied with how it had gone the first two times I write it (the story's prologue). This time, I am content with the results of the prologue, so I'll be writing this story to the end this time now that it's (in my opinion) finally off to a good start.

The title, "The Hieratic Dragons—Protectors of the City of the Sun" (originally, it was "The Hieratic Dragons—Protectors of Heliopolis"), might only be temporary though. I like it for how accurately it tells what the story will be about, but I may or may not try to think of something a little better.


	2. The Second Generation of Heliopolis

**Chapter 1:**

 **The Second Generation of Heliopolis**

The sounds of wings flapping in the wind echoed through the temple's halls. Suddenly, a young dragon, a female, shot out of the temple in a blur, laughing joyously. She dived down through the mist headfirst.

"Tefnuit!" a young male voice called. It was her brother, Su, who subsequently dived out of the temple after her. He knew their father would not approve of her free spirited and risky behavior. They were all their father had left, and he did not want anything to happen to them, like what happened to their mother, whom they would never know.

Tefnuit had figured if she got up early enough, her father would not catch her having fun. He never let them have fun, to keep them from getting into danger, but Tefnuit saw no danger in having a little fun every now and then. She assumed he just did not want them leaving the safety of the temple. Su, though, was not so sure about his sister's free spirit. Their father's stories of the world he came from had Su afraid of straying too far away from the temple. They were still young dragons, and unlike their father Atum, they had no way of defending themselves if they got in trouble.

Their father did not want to teach them how to fight until they had lived in the world for a year, because he knew if they learned to fight when they were too young, then his children would leave the temple more often against his wishes. Though that was not stopping Tefnuit from flying through the mist and clouds in the canyon at this end of their home. Su had never noticed before that the temple was located at the edge of a deep canyon, while it was only desert on the other side.

As she flew wherever she wished through the mist, Tefnuit began to wonder if there was a water source of some kind down in this canyon. It had not rained for weeks, so as far as the immature dragon was concerned, there could not be any other reason for all this mist.

"Sister?"

Tefnuit heard Su calling for her, but she decided to ignore her brother. Her curiosity was getting the better of her, and so Tefnuit decided for herself to fly down through the mist to see if she could find out what was causing it. Tefnuit was not too worried about the chance of their father catching her and Su outside the temple. He had never woke up this early, so Tefnuit let her father slip her mind as she dived downward with her wings pressed against the sides of her small body. The moisture produced on the dragon's body from the mist felt good in this hot region. Even at night, it was usually not too comfortable, whether it was hot or cold. The temperatures here were always inconsistent, even their father not being able to predict what they would do.

"Brother, you should come see this!" Tefnuit called up.

"But father said not to leave the temple!" Su called down.

"He doesn't have to know!" Tefnuit called up at him again. "Just come down here. It is amazing down here."

"Okay…" Su called down at his sister with uncertainty in his voice. "But I will not accept the blame for this from father."

The dragon nervously stepped to the edge of the temple and peeked over the edge. He only saw mist, but that did not stop Su from gasping in alarm, and pulling his head back over the edge. Su shook his head to clear his thoughts, then began to tell himself that he could fly, and there should be nothing to worry about. With that, Su flew off the edge, and followed Tefnuit's voice until he found her flying low near a river at the bottom of the canyon.

"What are you doing?" Su asked in alarm.

"This is why the temple is surrounded by mist," Tefnuit said, ignoring his question. "Who would have thought there would be a river at the bottom of this canyon when it is desert as far as we can see at the other end of the temple? It is like a miracle, brother."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Su replied, "but can we get back to the temple before father wakes up and realizes we are gone? He will not be happy when he learns we left the safety of the temple. He has always told us…"

"I know, I know," Tefnuit cut her little brother off mid-sentence. "'The world is a dangerous place. You can never know what to expect, so never leave the temple without me'. That is all father ever tells us. But you have seen as much as I have that we are the only dragons living in the region, so what has father so worried all the time? You and father are the only other dragons I have seen in our lives."

That did nothing to comfort Su, as he flew alongside Tefnuit. They had not been alive for even a year yet. What did they know? He and Tefnuit were still children, as far as dragons went. They were not even at the end of their first year of life yet, so how could his older sister say something like that as if they had been? Tefnuit was acting as though she was a grown-up dragon, but their father had told them thinking like that meant they may not live to become grown-ups. After that, he would always remind them that there was a reason they would never know their mother. It sounded cruel, but when Atum got to the point where he thought his children (especially Tefnuit, who had always been a bit rebellious) would not heed his warnings.

"I know, but—" Su began. He was not sure what to say at first. Su had not always been the best dragon at knowing what to say. The words formed in his brain, but he could not always speak them. "—if you are right, then why does father worry about our safety so much, and always remind us of mother?"

"Because he went through a lot before we hatched," Tefnuit said. She had always been intelligent for her age. Intelligent, but equally rebellious. "But do try not to worry so much, brother. We have lived nearly a year of our lives without seeing anyone but each other and our father." Tefnuit nearly flew into Su to dodge a tree growing on from a cliff. They both regained their balance quickly, though, and continued to fly side-by-side. "I think it is safe to say we are the only life in the area if you do not count the desert dwellers—snakes, scorpions, spiders, wasps, and hawks. I don't think any of them would dare challenge a dragon, even two young'uns like us."

"I guess…you are right," Su said, but he still had some doubt in his heart. All they had ever known was what their father taught them, and that had started with that they should _never_ leave the temple. Clearly, his sister was not worried about being outside their home, but Su did not have the same confidence that Tefnuit did. Su did not want to say that his father was to blame for his lack of confidence, but Atum did have an influence on them both. Either way, Su did just wish that his sister could be as rule abiding and as responsible as he was.

"Be a free spirit, brother!" Tefnuit howled cheerfully. She spun around, much to Su's surprise, causing him to duck and cover in flight. He nearly fell into the river below. Tefnuit laughed as she darted through the air about the canyon. She was the happiest dragon in the world right now, she thought.

"What are you kids doing out here?" a stern voice shouted. It echoed through the canyon.

Tefnuit and Su gasped, then both nearly lost control of their wings.

"Oh," Tefnuit stammered. "Hello, father…"

The three dragons landed on the nearby strip of land, where Su coward behind his old sister.

"What have I told you two not to do for since the day you could hear?" Atum asked sternly.

"Not to leave the temple without you…" Tefnuit and Su answered together, in whispers.

"And yet, here you two are," Atum continued. "You both disobeyed me. I thought you two, especially you Tefnuit, being the older sibling, would know better than to disobey my orders that I gave to keep you two safe from any possible dangers in this world. You never know what can happen out there anymore." He paused. "I am disappointed in you two. Especially you, Tefnuit.."

"I am sorry, father," Tefnuit and Su replied in unison. They had their heads bowed in shame as they addressed their father.

"I-I did not mean to disappoint you," Tefnuit whispered. She had always thought dragons were not capable of producing tears with their eyes, but Tefnuit was crying now. The tears flowed down her face, then they dripped to the ground like small rain drops. "I am sorry."

Atum bent down to nuzzle his children with his muzzle. They still had so much to learn, he realized, and he should not be too hard on them right now. "It is alright, children," he changed his tone. "I should not have been so quick to say I am disappointed with you two." Then he told them, "Now, let us go back to the temple before something does happen."


	3. A Dragon's Thoughts

**Chapter 2:**

 **A Dragon's Thoughts**

Atum sighed from where he was perched on a stone pillar near the top of the temple. He had been thinking about Tefnuit, and what she did earlier today for about an hour after nightfall, and had not gotten any sleep yet. Tefnuit and Su were already asleep for the night, so Atum had left the temple chamber where they slept to get some fresh air, and think to himself in peace and quiet.

He knew Tefnuit was still young, but Atum did not understand why his daughter could not be like Su, and listen to what he told them. She seemed to not understand that he did all he did for their own safety. They had not been in any danger yet, and Atum wanted to keep it that way, at least until they could take care of themselves. Atum knew he would not always be able to take care of Tefnuit and Su, so they _both_ needed to learn discipline when they were young and could be taught. But Tefnuit seemed to be the kind of dragon who did not want to learn. She was the reason Atum had been trying to team them discipline since they were not even three months old. It should not take seven months to teach them both that, Atum believed.

Atum looked up at the sky. How things had changed so much, he thought. The dragon had learned a lot about the culture of this region in the seven months since he arrived here, and even took it up as his beliefs. He had not known much about the culture of where he came from, so it had not been a difficult adjustment for Atum. He probably would have anyway, just to further put his terrible past behind him once and for all. The dragon did not want to remember anything about where he came from, or tell his children about it. It was for the best that they did not know of his past, Atum believed. Thankfully, there was no one else here who could tell his children about their parents' past.

Mist had begun to form around Atum some minutes ago. He was not sure when exactly, for the dragon had been too deep in thought to notice it until now. That was not to say the mist's presence did not help Atum relax, despite all he had on his mind because of Tefnuit and Su. Atum had always been close to nature, so it was no wonder that the mist (which would usually be an oddity in deserts, but this side of the temple was located over a massive ravine after all. Nonetheless, Atum had to admit that mist in a desert, whether at night like now or during the day, was an odd site. For as long as he had called this region his new home, Atum had never seen mist here before. It had not ever rained here either, but that was not a surprise at all. It probably never would rain here in Atum's lifetime.

"Hmmm," Atum whispered. He began thinking back to the day he and Agathangelos first saw this temple in the distance. It had shown a golden color, but Atum had not seen it do this again, nor had Tefnuit and Su said anything about such a phenomenon to him. He doubted his children would keep such a thing secret from him if they had seen it. Tefnuit and Su were curious dragons. They would have surely asked him, had they experienced it, too. A part of Atum wondered if it had been something guiding him and Agathangelos to this temple so they could begin their new lives in isolation and safety.

Dragons had always been a superstitious kind, and Atum was no different than others were. He believed that this temple glowing gold when he and Agathangelos saw it in the distance had been a sign that they were meant to find it, and raise future generations here. But Agathangelos would never see this isolated location that was now his and their children's home, and hiding spot from the evils of this world. If the dragons who wiped Atum's family out somehow did track his and Agathangelos' trail this far, they would never think to look for them at an abandoned temple seemingly built by humans. Dragons never had anything to do with human-built monuments, and _that_ was why Atum had chose to claim this temple as his home, other than that it seemed to have beckoned to him.

Atum had come to accept the culture of this region, which he had learned in the past year (less time actually) himself only by reading the writing on the temple walls each day until nightfall if Tefnuit and Su did not mind him spending so much time away from them. They usually did enough to occupy themselves during the day without getting into trouble or danger (which had thankfully not happened yet, but Atum nevertheless always worried that it would). The world was a dangerous place, and it always would be, as far as Atum was concerned. He just hoped his children would never learn that for themselves before they were old enough to fend for themselves. Atum would not always be there to take care of them, unfortunately.

The dragon looked up at the sky from where he was perched on the top of the temple, and stared at the moon. The moon was full tonight and its light illuminated Atum's gray face with a light that made it glow a bright hue of blue. It had the same effect on his amber-colored eyes, but made them appear green, and glow even more in the darkness.

Atum yawned in at a low tone, then looked away from the moon. It was about time he got around to sleeping, Atum thought. He silently flew down from the temple's roof and toward the chamber where Tefnuit and Su slept. It was down a corridor from the chamber where Atum slept, in case they ever needed him, or just if he simply wanted to check on them at night. He would do that now, quietly of course, and then get to sleep. When Atum reached the end of the corridor, he stopped so the light from torches embedded in the temple walls would not cast his shadow over Tefnuit and Su, and wake them. They were both sleeping well, it seemed, and snoring quietly, by each other's side.

It was not until now that Atum had noticed how Tefnuit's face, even though she was a dragon of course, faintly resembled that of what Atum's reading of the wall writing had told him was called a "lion" by humans in this region. Her eyes and teeth were not unlike that of a dragon, nor was the rest of her face, but Tefnuit's nose was reminiscent of a lion's nose. At least, that was what Atum believed, based on his readings. All sorts of animals he had never seen for himself were described in the hieroglyphics on the temple's walls. Regardless, Tefnuit was not any less of a beautiful dragon, especially for her age. It was a shame, Atum thought, that there may not be any dragons in this region other than Atum and his children. He had not seen any in all the hours he had spent watch for other dragons from the temple roof before the eggs that become Tefnuit and Su hatched.

"They'll be alright," Atum whispered. The dragon yawned as quietly as possible, then turned to leave his children's chamber before either of them got a feel that they were being watched. Tefnuit had always been especially aware of when someone was watching her, or listening in on her. At least, when she wanted to be anyway. Tefnuit had been more of a free spirit than Su was and that part of her personality had led to trouble for Atum trying to teach her, but he that his daughter was nonetheless a good dragon at heart, and would learn responsibility when she got a little older.

 _I just hope it is not too late when she realizes that she must learn how to be responsible,_ Atum thought. _I have told them many times that the world is a dangerous place, more so now than ever before. I will not always be here to teach Tefnuit all she needs to learn, and she must learn it before the time comes that I must leave them both for the afterlife. They will have to be ready to take care of themselves for whenever that day inevitably comes._


	4. Tefnuit's Disturbing Vision

**Chapter 3:**

 **Tefnuit's Disturbing Vision**

Tefnuit curled up in the corner of the small room, opposite from where a row of four jars had been positioned on the ground. From left-to-right, the jars had been made to represent the heads of a jackal, a baboon, a falcon, and a human. Each jar had a single symbol written on them, but Tefnuit had not understood the significance of these jars before she had fallen asleep.

A brief examination, before she had lost interesting, of the jars Tefnuit had done told her that each of the unique heads could be detached from these jars. The young dragon had not tried, though, so she did not know what was contained within the jars, if anything. Probably nothing important, Tefnuit thought, if they had been left in the corner of this otherwise empty room like they were. Tefnuit had thought to herself, before dozing off, that they must have been left here, forgotten by whoever the human was who sculpted them. But if a human had taken the time to sculpt something, why leave them behind in this dusty temple like this?

Surely, they had been important to whoever their creator was (or possibly, had been). Their father had not said anything to Tefnuit or Su about any signs of humans having been here for a while. Of course, Tefnuit, being the curious dragon that she was, had asked her father why humans would put out the effort to built this massive temple, and all of these articles contained within it, then just abandon it. Atum had told her he was not sure (much to his children's surprise, as they had figured their dad knew everything, like most children would), but had said that if was as if they had just disappeared without a trace. There was not a sign of humans having been here, seemingly, for years. That did not make sense, though. Living creatures did _not_ just disappear like that.

When Tefnuit had asked her father "Where did they all go?", Atum had seemed to think about it, but he still answered her the same way: he did not have an answer was what he had told her. Of course, this had disappointed the always-curious dragon. Tefnuit had always thought there was an answer everything, but in recent times, she had learned that was not the case. Still, Atum had told her something that did leave Tefnuit with some hope: the world was a mysterious place sometimes, but it was supposed to be that way. What would the world be if everyone knew everything, and there was nothing for anyone to learn? That had made sense to Tefnuit, but she still wanted to find out what had happened to the humans that built this temple they now called home one day.

Tefnuit's breast expanded and contracted as she slept on her side, snoring quietly. Her dad and brother were not aware that Tefnuit had come to sleep alone in this small chamber, but even if someone had come this way looking for her, they would not have heard her snoring. Tefnuit was as quiet of at snoring as she was good at sleeping soundly. Her snoring never woke Atum and Su on nights that they had slept in the same chamber, as opposed to separate ones. Though it was usually only Tefnuit who preferred to sleep in an empty chamber. Su had not yet wanted to be without the company of their father or his sister (though he had no idea that Tefnuit often went off to sleep alone in one of the many empty chambers in their new home). Tefnuit believed she slept better if there was no one there to keep her company…rather distract her from sleeping. She believed that sleeping was something a dragon should do without company if they wanted to get a good night's sleep.

But with what Tefnuit was experiencing now, she wondered as she slept uneasily if she would get a good night of sleep now. The dragon would uncontrollably kick at the air with one, or both, of her hind legs sometimes, while other times, her snout or tail would twitch nervously. Still, Tefnuit did not awake from whatever it was disturbing her on this night. What she saw was, in her dream, was something terrible. It had begun like every other day of her life, with Tefnuit exploring the near-abandoned temple, but now things were different. She had not been able to find her father or little brother in her dream, after searching too many of the temple's chambers and corridors to remember where she had searched already, and where she had not searched yet.

The first thing Tefnuit had assumed was that her dad had taken Su to practice his flight (a skill that, compared to his sister, he had trouble mastering like a dragon should), but she had let the possibility go after flying around outside the temple, and not finding them anywhere. That obviously worried Tefnuit. If they were not outside the temple flying around and she had not found them after searching within the temple until her legs were telling her to stop walking for a few minutes, then where could they be? Of course, they could have woken up early to explore the temple more, and could not wake her up. For all Tefnuit knew, they could be deeper in the temple than she had bothered to explore so far.

When the dragon came to yet another chamber with those mysterious jars, Tefnuit began wondering to herself if she was really exploring different sections of the temple, or stuck in a maze. She could not tell either way, for sure. All of these chambers and corridors looked the same to her, or at least so indifferent from each other that Tefnuit could not spot the differences at a quick glance. She had not been bothering to waste time seeing how similar or dissimilar each room of this temple looked, but maybe she should have paid a little more attention to those details. Tefnuit feared that she was lost now, and her family was as well. She was learning how easy it really was to get lost in the depths of the temple. Tefnuit also began to suspect that her dad and brother were lost somewhere down here as well.

 _Huh?_ Tefnuit thought. In all this silence, she thought she had heard a distant, moan-like voice. It sounded as though someone had been hurt.

"Hello?" Tefnuit called out, her voice shaking with some nervousness in it. "Is someone in her who is not supposed to be?" But no one properly answered her. The eerie moan just continued to echo through the endless corridors from somewhere in the darkness where the torches seemed to not be shining anymore. Of course, Tefnuit was a dragon, so the darkness did not bother her too much, as far as seeing in these darker tunnels went.

Tefnuit stopped at the edge of the pitch-black. "Are you hurt, whoever is there?" she called into the shadows, only to get the same answer. The closer she got to the source of the moan, the eerier it sounded to the dragon. It sent chills through her bones, and made her blood run cold. Tefnuit had never felt a fear like this before, not even during thunderstorms when she was even younger.

"There must be somewhere here…" she whispered. Tefnuit thought she heard slow footsteps coming from the darkness. A dragon's hearing was a skill that rarely, no, a skill that _never_ let them down, and she doubted it was her mind playing a trick on her. Her father had raised her on the belief that a healthy dragon's senses would never let them down.

A shadow passed along the wall behind Tefnuit, briefly blocking the light cast by the torch, and even the torch itself. The shape did not stay in her line of sight for long, but she saw enough of it to know what she just saw was not Atum or Su. It was not even a dragon! Atum had described to her and Su what humans looked like, and that was what she saw just now! The low moan told her that the human she just saw in shadow must have been hurt, and could not find his or her way out of the darkness. It also told Tefnuit where everyone who built this temple had gone.

"Hello?" Tefnuit called again. The slow footsteps and the low moan of the human had been heading away from Tefnuit, but now it started to come toward her instead. The sound of feet scraping across the granite floor made her feel uneasy. What happened next made any feeling of easy Tefnuit had had go away all together. The human appeared, and it was not how she had imagined a human would look. Not only was its skin gray like the granite this temple was built from, but its entire body was wrapped with some sort of dull-white cloth, with some skin exposed through where the cloth had been ripped or rotted away.

A terrible stench hit Tefnuit's snout, provoking her to cover it with her wings before only one instinct took over: fear. Raw fear, and nothing but that. Tefnuit's heart began to race faster than she thought it was able to, and she forgot about how tired her legs had been. The dragon turned to run (because in the small corridors of the temple, flight was not an option unfortunately). But instead of doing that, Tefnuit felt her body slam into something stiff. Her body shook, as she was too afraid to open her eyes, and see what it was she had collided with.

But when she did finally, Tefnuit wished she had not opened her eyes. It was worse knowing what she collided with than not knowing. It was her father, gray-skinned and wrapped with the strange cloth just like the human. That would be the end of this all. She felt teeth, the sharp teeth of a dragon (albeit broken), sink into her neck, then everything went black until she awoke screaming. Tefnuit looked around just to be sure she was still alone in this chamber, to see if there really were not any of those "mummies" (according to what her father had said they were called in this land's culture, based on his readings of the hieroglyphics all over the walls) here.

When she saw there were not any, Tefnuit let out a heavy sigh of relief. But her relief did not last very long. She wondered if this terrible dream about her mummified father (who else could it have been, if not her father?) was more than just a dream, but a warning of things to come.

So Tefnuit got up from her sleeping spot to return to where Atum and Su had picked out their sleep spots. She found them both there, sleeping in the same spots they had been when she chose to find her own sleeping spot for night. "Thank goodness," she whispered, so to not wake them. But Tefnuit would not leave this chamber again tonight. After the dream she had, Tefnuit did not want to sleep alone, despite her prior thoughts.

She lay down on the granite between where Atum and Su were sleeping, but Tefnuit doubted sleep would come easily again after what she dreamt about, if it came at all tonight.

* * *

 **Author's note:** I thought it was about time I picked up the story's pacing a little. I felt like a little horror would be a good way to do that, and considering the story is set in Egypt, what better way to do realistically and believably do that than how I did in this chapter?


End file.
